Youth awareness of sexually transmitted infections and support services

Abstract

Young adults are quite prone to acquire Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) as they do not perceive themselves susceptible at acquiring such infections. This might contribute to having high rates of young adults being infected with STIs. Therefore, being adequately informed about STIs and the services offered might lead to preventing STI transmission. This is because information might increase young adult's awareness of STIs. Adopting quantitative data, this small scale study was conducted to explore local youth awareness of STIs and the support services available. Data was collected from 26 self-administered structured questionnaires. The sample was composed of 26 young adults whose age ranged from 15 to 17. The findings indicated that young adults do possess some kind of knowledge about STIs, yet some misconceptions about the subject exist. This indicates that more information is required and such information should be intended to reach as many young people as possible.